Wednesday, March 24, 2010

My husband finally made some major changes to our computers...and for the better. Here's his story:

The Operating System That Broke the Homesteaders Back

Well it finally happened, “I've had enough!” After working on computers for many years I have put up with their crap, but microsoft (small “m” they don't deserve a capital) has gone too far, and I've had enough with their ill fated attempts at trying to create an OS (operating system) that actually works, not software that does no more than raise your blood pressure and push your nerves to their ends. Oh sure, if you never put any other software on the computer except what comes with it you might have half a chance at the whole thing working somewhat right, but if you start loading on software that's actually useful …......well now you just entered the “microsoft, beat your head against the wall, pull your hair out, shoot yourself in the foot world,” the world of - it ain't gonna work no matter what you do. And the software that comes with the computer is either useless or trial software, so now if you find it to be useful you have to pay more money for it. OK, so you get the idea that I'm not a microsoft fan; that fact alone makes anyone ten times smarter than microsoft.

Vista. Ah yes, Vista- a she devil put into an operating system, it's only function in life is to crash, lock up, slow down or any other sort of malicious function it can perform just to--- ; you see were I'm going with this? It all began with the purchase of two Sony Vaio's laptops; two years of pure hell. But I said, “no I'll give it a chance and work out the bugs, I'll learn the operating system,” 730+ days I think is a fair chance. So my wife and I decided to upgrade to win 7. Back in November of 09 we saw a copy of win 7 three license family pack on sale for $149.00. In late February we decided that it might be the time to go back and buy it, one license for each laptop and the third one would go onto the file server I am building. After checking the original store and many others and not being able to find a copy we turned to the place were the lazy go, were the unadventurous go, were those who see the outside world as a demonic void of inhumane----- sorry, the Internet (I'm referring to myself ). It didn't take long to learn that not only did ms stop producing the family pack, but any on line store that had a copy was now charging in the area of $300.00 of more depending what site you went to. As you probably already figured, I went off the deep end. After boiling a few hours I finally had an epiphany and figured out a solution. Although some of you will laugh, some will be puzzled and a few of you will think to yourselves [it's about time, I could have told you that.] The solution? Screw microsoft, I'm switching to Linux, to be specific Ubuntu 9.10.

Here's how it's going to work. Once we get the disks, Vista on my laptop will be the first to receive the death sentence and undergo the transformation. I can't wait to kill Vista. The second will be the file server (we also ordered Ubuntu for servers). My wife's laptop with Vista and our Dell laptop with xp will stay as is for the time being, only because we need to find software for Linux to replace some of the win apps that we still use. Our network will then consist of file server wired to a Netgear wireless router that is plugged into a satellite modem (Wild Blue) our two Vaios will connect to the wireless and the Dell will be cabled.

March 3, 2010 at 9:06 eastern time the destruction of a demon began and at 9:26 Vista passed away on my computer, no longer to be heard from again, well not on my laptop anyway. As soon as the installation completed it had to reboot, this took about 50 seconds. No, that is no misprint: 50 seconds my computer was up. Not only was it ready to go, it had already found the net work and when the printer was turned on, it found that as well. Linux is so easy, it has not had any problems it doesn't freeze up; it's not slow. In fact when going on line, it is actually faster than windows; pages load a lot faster with out any problems. After playing for quite some time I had to call it quits so I decide to shut down and when I clicked the mouse to shut it down it took 8 seconds, yeah that's what I said. Why did I take so long to switch? The best part is Linux is free, always has been, always will be. It's open source. And while Linux users keep getting free upgrades, each time microsoft comes out with a new version of windows people dig deep into their pockets and pay all kinds of money for something they could get for nothing.

I have been waiting to try Linux for years, I just don't know what I've been waiting for. There is plenty of help out there, and if you think about it all kinds of people have been working on this software. They don't get paid, they do it because they want to, so it makes sense that this software would be better. There are also ways that anybody can get involved, by testing, programming and designing, just to name a few. Check out www.Ubuntu.com. I plan on becoming active with Linux and help get more people switched over to Linux.

They say that you can make change by voting with your dollars. Well here is a way to keep your dollars and vote at the same time. Although I should clarify the fact that even though you can get the software for free, it would be great to make a donation to the cause, whether it is by monetary or voluntary. After all, others are giving to produce it, so we should give back to support it. While I'm on the subject of free there are a lot of great programs under the open source category. Open source, if you are not familiar with the term, is free to use, free to copy and distribute; in fact you are encouraged to do so. I have always been a big proponent of open source, programs like Open Office are better than ms Word, and Gimp is comparable to Adobe Photo Shop, just to name a couple. It's pretty much certain that if you want a specific program, you can probably find an open source program that will do what you need.

So as I finish this rant, a final note; don't be brain washed into thinking that you're stuck with what you have, if you don't like what you've got change it, but before you do make a back up of your system just in case you don't like the new one (I can't imagine that), or there are two other options. First you can run most Linux disks as live CD's, or you can install it along side your version of windows (I just couldn't do that to Linux, I gave it a clean home.)

Update: Last Friday my wife wiped out her computer and put Linux on it. She's thrilled with it! (and I'm so proud...)

I just recently went from Windows to a MacBook. There are a couple of programs I won't be able to run on the Mac without the use of VirtualBox (free program from Sun) and WinXP - like my quilting program. We're big fans of Ubuntu (my 12 yr old son especially) and the only reason I didn't choose Ubuntu over Mac was because I love my iPod, with bunches of podcasts and audiobooks. There's no OpenSource replacement for iTunes yet. Songbird is close, or so I've heard, but still won't sync with my iPod Touch. It'll get there, I'm sure. I'm already using Firefox browser, Foxit reader, Eudora email, etc.

Caroline, Isn't it fun to learn all these new things! I have been having a blast looking for programs to replace the ones I use, although with WINE I can run some of the window's programs (my cooking program was my biggest concern) I actually am not a person who usually likes change, but this has been a lot of fun.

Not only a spokesmen--but a client to boot! A very stirring testimonial! I am so new to the cyber-world but I will definitely keep this information in the forefront of my mind. I like 'free' especially when I'd be more than happy to pay for the quality product. Thanks for the information!

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Our philosophy is real nutrition, real food, not only in everything we grow and eat, but in
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We live off the grid, getting our power from the sun and from the wind as well. We eat what we grow, grow what we eat and are in tuned with the natural world around us.
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